A Tampa Bay Rays sale could come to fruition soon. According to Scott Soshnick and Kurt Badenausen of Sportico, the Rays are close to being sold to a group led by Patrick Zalupski, who is a developer in Jacksonville, Florida. However, nothing is official as of this story's writing. The Rays are reportedly being estimated to sell at around $1.7 billion.

It has been a long year for the Rays. In October, Tropicana Field was damaged due to a hurricane. Tampa Bay ultimately had to find a new home stadium for the 2025 season. The Rays are currently playing their home games at the New York Yankees' spring training ballpark in Florida.

Rumors around a new stadium had swirled even before the hurricane damage. New ownership talks had also emerged. Nothing had been officially announced on either topic, however.

Now, it appears a new ownership group may be close to taking over. As mentioned, the sale has yet to officially be announced and it could still fall through. Based on the report, though, there is clearly serious interest from the Patrick Zalupski-led ownership group.

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The Rays currently hold a 40-33 record. Tampa Bay is in second place in the American League East, trailing the 42-30 New York Yankees by 2.5 games as of this story's writing. Despite playing in a small market, the Rays have managed to find success over the past decade.

The ball club utilizes analytics and an intelligent front office to make smart moves that produce winning results. The Rays have yet to bring home a World Series championship, though. Nevertheless, the team is often in the postseason conversation. Barring a big step in the wrong direction, the Rays are on track to at least compete for an American League Wild Card spot once again in 2025.

Meanwhile, updates on the team's potential sale will continue to be provided as they are made available.